FinTech Weekly - Fintech News Issue #353

Penny Crosman, host of the American Banker podcast, welcomes Yasaman Hadjibashi and Keith Armstrong to discuss their innovative fintech company: these two entrepreneurs founded a fintech firm to help people with a conviction history.

In a recent interview, Jamie Iannone, CEO of eBay, announced that the company wants to attract more Gen Zers and Millennials, and for this reason eBay seems about to start a new adventure in the upcoming weeks: adding cryptocurrencies as a payment method on the platform.

After the tweets of the Ukrainian government official account, the crypto community replied to their requests donating over $17 million in cryptocurrencies - especially Bitcoin, Ether and USD-pegged stablecoins.

Penny Lee, CEO of the Financial Technology Association, discussed why the Fed should support fintech firms as it does with traditional banks - this will benefit customers and the entire country, allowing for lower fees and frictionless financial activity.

Lucinda Shen writes about the impact the conflict is having on the fintech space - especially because many CEOs, founders, investors and crypto executives are either Ukrainian or Russian. Many fintech firms are trying to respect sanctions and others are taking sides, but where will all this lead?

Following sanctions, the UK fintech Wise blocked money transfers to Russia. On the other hand, and even if it’s always harder, the company is still allowing transfers to Ukraine and wants to remove the Ukraine cap as soon as possible.

Ron Shevlin shares Cornerstone Advisors data and focuses our attention on a particular point: fintech firms are becoming the first choice when it comes to open checking accounts.

The “challenger bank” Rocker introduces a new card in partnership with two other firms: IDEX Biometrics and Idemia. Instead of needing a PIN code, this card - certified by Visa and Mastercard - allows users to confirm payments via their fingerprints.